Bethesda cracks down on Fallout 76 accounts with illicit "developer room" items
Wooby-tide those who enter.
Following the discovery of a secret developer room in Fallout 76, Bethesda is now temporarily disabling player accounts with items from areas "not intended for the public".
A statement from Bethesda first appeared on the Polish Fallout Facebook account, but Eurogamer has since obtained an official English translation from Bethesda. Here it is in full:
"We are looking into accounts where players have obtained items by accessing areas of the game that are not intended for the public. These areas are only accessible to PC players that are using 3rd party applications to get into these areas.
"In an effort to ensure the integrity of these characters and accounts, these accounts are being temporarily disabled pending further investigation. Players that have accessed these areas and have had their accounts impacted are encouraged to contact our support team."
This appears to be the first time Bethesda has publicly addressed the problem of players hacking into the developer room. Last week sources informed me accounts which entered the room received automatic suspensions within six to 24 hours of entry: but it was still possible to transfer items to other accounts, which did not receive bans.
This led to a range of unreleased items being circulated amongst players, such as cosmetics and weapons that had not yet seen the light of the post-apocalyptic day.
Over the weekend several sources told me that although Bethesda moved the developer cell's location, it was still possible to access several parts. Yet despite being able to enter, players reported they were no longer able to interact with the items inside some of the rooms.
With bans occuring for those who enter, difficulties in accessing items and the potential threat of account suspensions for those caught with dev room items, it seems there's now little reward for venturing into the dev room. I guess this makes it the most secretive vault in Fallout history.
Perhaps more importantly, Bethesda's new account suspensions could shut down the circulation of unreleased items. Whether Bethesda is able to identify current in-game items sourced from the dev room remains uncertain.
In the meantime, if you're still feeling nosey about the dev room and sad you'll never be able to see it in its full glory, Mr. X - the original video uploader - has returned with a third clip of the area (the second has since been deleted). Human NPC Wooby doesn't feature in this one, however. #FreeWooby.